By Bro. Caesar Altarejos, BCBP Chairman
We are past 2020, a year filled with so much challenges and blessings. We have confronted pandemic, typhoons, flooding, loss of jobs, and loss of businesses. But we were able to turn them all into opportunities as we became more aware of our brokenness, our vulnerabilities, our humanity. From these realizations, we discovered that we are totally dependent on God, that our faith had been reaffirmed and reinforced that God has power over everyone and everything. And He has endowed us with countless wonderful gifts in 2020 that we should be thankful for.
As we say goodbye to 2020, let us welcome 2021. It beacons us to new beginning, new hope, new dreams. There is every strong reason to be optimistic and hopeful about this new year. Many positive developments are happening around us. Vaccinations have started and more vaccines are in the pipeline. Let us remain strong and steadfast, and never succumb to hopelessness and helplessness. We have to look into the future with resilience and with the unshaken belief that 2021 will be a better year. At the same time, we should never forget the lessons of what we have been through. God has brought us to where we are now out of our fears and anxieties for the last 10 months. We have just to remind ourselves that God’s purpose for us in life is about His glory, His Kingdom, and Him. If everything is all about Him, we should fear not and our only part is to entrust everything to Him. As we always say — God is good all the time and He makes all things happen that are good for us.
This leads me to Romans 8:28-31 and I quote:
“As we know that all things work together for good to those who love God , to those who are called according to His purpose. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
The new economic environment will no longer be the same as it was. Your new leaders will continue to need more than ever your support, your service, and your prayers. God is calling each one of us to transcend our comfort zones and to break our individual glass ceilings, to embrace a new zeal and a deeper commitment to serve and help reshape the marketplace. The marketplace will continue to evolve across all fronts and BCBP must constantly change and adapt to the new reality. Our Long-Term Objectives crafted in our National Strategic Planning Meeting earlier this year will put us in a better position to meet the rapidly changing new normal and the resulting new boundaries.
And we are together in all these things. We are one community, one family, with one mission and one vision. There will be problems and obstacles along the way. But we have been created larger than ourselves. There is no doubt at all that we will emerge stronger, better and closer to our vision and mission.
Thank you and God bless us all!
